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my father had a pretty impressive port collection and nobody in our family enjoys port and I have a few questions. I understand that many of his ports do not need to be drank soon, but some of his ports I should probably look at selling because their drink dates are probably coming up. Here are the ones that I have considered selling.

1875 Oliveiras Madeira Reserva
1947 Rocha Vintage Port Port Red
1963 Cockburn Vintage Port Port Red
1963 Croft Vintage Port Port Red
1963 Dow Porto Vintage

If anyone has any knowledge/advice on these I would appreciate it. Should these ports be drank fairly soon? Should I hold on to them?

Welcome to the Port Forum. If you're comfortable to do so, perhaps you could let us know a name rather than have us call you "papa's port".

None of the bottles you've listed out are in desperate need of drinking now if they have been properly stored undisturbed while lying on their side in a damp, dark cellar. All will happily last many years to come, although arguably they will be more enjoyable today rather than in 10 or 20 years.

I don't know the madeira, but madeira has a reputation for lasting forever so I would suggest that there is no rush to drink this. The 1947 Rocha is a port that I've not seen before, but my experience with the 1947 vintage is that it is drinking very nicely at the moment and I would expect this bottle to be simply delicious if drunk soon.

The 1963 ports are also drinking very well. The Dow is likely to be the one that lasts longest, the Cockburn is the one that I would recommend that is drunk first. In financial terms, if you are considering selling these bottles then the best time to sell is likely to be in 2012 when people born in 1963 are looking to buy a bottle or two with which to celebrate their birthday. If you were to sell these today, you would expect to end up with £30-50 for each of them after expenses (with the Cockburn and Croft the cheapest and the Dow the most valuable).

Personally, I would recommend holding on to them and drinking them in the future. If you are interested in learning about port, then perhaps come along to one of our informal port offlines and bring one of the bottles with you to share with others and to compare with the ports that others bring. Port is a fascinating drink and you have an excellent selection of mature ports to start with.

Alex

Papa’s port: would you be willing to post a photograph of the 1947 Rocha? Or, if you prefer, email it to me (email address on this page).

Thank you.

I know this wine well:

1875 Oliveiras Madeira Reserva ... actually this is one of the truly great Malvasia bottlings I have ever had. One left in my own cellar. About $700 per bottle if you were to buy it today. Stunningly great. If you ever need someone to share a bottle, let me know.